Tears of the Kingdom is the latest addition to the Legend of Zelda franchise and the sequel to the critically acclaimed Breath of the Wild (BotW). Fans are anxious to know what this new game has in store for them.

We will cover everything we know about the game and see what players can expect.

Tears of the Kingdom Release Date

Development for the game started in 2017, and we got our first look at it during the E3 in 2019. After this, there was a lot of silence since the E3 2020 got canceled, but we got a few glimpses here and there. It was only in September 2022 that we got the first full trailer for the game. We were treated to yet another trailer in February 2023 that gives us a good idea of what to expect.

While the game got delayed once, we now have a finalized release date of May 12th, 2023 for the Nintendo Switch, so mark your calendars. The game is available for pre-orders and will be sold for $70.

We expect the game to be the largest project Nintendo has worked on, especially because the Nintendo Switch is long due for a successor. The file size for the game is just over 18Gb, making it the largest Nintendo game released.

Where is Tears of the Kingdom set?

The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom will be set once again in Hyrule, which we have already explored in Breath of the Wild. However, there has been an emphasis on exploring the sky in the trailers and game information. Brand new mechanics and vehicles (more on that later) will likely be the key to exploring the Kingdom of Hyrule and its new sky islands.

What is Tears of the Kingdom about?

From the trailers, we can speculate that an ancient evil reawakens again, becoming a new threat to Hyrule. There was an emphasis on the blood moon found in the trailers. So, many fans speculate that the new story is possibly linked to the original evil deity in the world of Zelda.

Fans have speculated that this evil entity is none other than Demise, who is said to be the originator of Ganondorf.

Demise was originally sealed away in the Master Sword in Skyward Sword. However, promotional art for the game shows a damaged Master Sword, possibly hinting at Demise escaping his prison.

New abilities in Tears of the Kingdom

The trailer showcased a couple of new abilities, but the most prominent change seems to be Link’s new arm. While we don’t know what happened to the original arm, the new mechanical arm can be used for various abilities.

Some of the abilities we saw included the classic magnet, time rewinding, curving projectiles, explosive projectiles, and going through walls.

New vehicles in Tears of the Kingdom

They showcased various different vehicles for both land and air traversal.

Link can be seen driving a car similar to the patchwork car players managed to create in BotW.

A mysterious air carrier, a hoverbike, and an air balloon were spotted in the trailers.

New enemies in Tears of the Kingdom

There are many returning enemies from BotW, along with some reskinned versions of them.

We see the return of the Hinox along with Bokoblins, Hobgoblins, and Lizalflos.

The trailers showed some flying creatures that can also carry around Bokoblins.

A curious new addition is the giant mechanical enemy that Link fights in the trailer.

Last but not least, we see the return of one of Zelda’s most iconic enemies, the Redead. Players will recognize this enemy from Ocarina of Time. These enemies use a terrifying scream to paralyze Link, and it will be fun to see how they will be implemented in Tears of the Kingdom.

Is Zelda alive?

Unfortunately, there is no guarantee about the fate of Zelda in the latest installation. Demise’s last revival resulted from sacrificing Zelda, and we see her in a precarious situation at the end of the second trailer.

That’s all we know about Tears of the Kingdom so far. Do you have anything to add? Do let us know in the comments.